How to Tell the Time in Spanish: Hours, Minutes and Everyday Schedules

Quick answer: three patterns to remember

• ¿Qué hora es? — What time is it?
• Es la una. / Son las cuatro. — It is one o'clock. / It is four o'clock.
• A la una. / A las cuatro. — At one o'clock. / At four o'clock.

The first two answers tell us what time it is now. The expressions with a tell us when something happens. That small change matters as much as the numbers.

1. How to ask the time

The all-purpose question is ¿Qué hora es? It works in formal and informal situations. In everyday Spain Spanish, you will also hear ¿Tienes hora?, literally “Do you have the time?”

• Perdona, ¿tienes hora? — Excuse me, do you have the time? (informal)
• Disculpe, ¿tiene hora? — Excuse me, do you have the time? (formal)
• ¿Me puedes decir qué hora es, por favor? — Could you tell me what time it is, please?

In context: —Perdona, ¿tienes hora? —Sí, son las cinco y diez. — “Excuse me, do you have the time?” “Yes, it's ten past five.”

2. Why Spanish says es la una but son las dos

For one o'clock, use the singular form of ser and the singular article: es la una. For the other clock hours, use the plural: son las dos, son las once, son las doce. The feminine article agrees with the understood word hora; una is feminine here.

Add en punto when you want to stress an exact hour: Son las nueve en punto — “It's exactly nine.”

Noon and midnight have their own expressions: Es mediodía (“It's noon”) and Es medianoche (“It's midnight”). Son las doce is possible when context already makes clear which twelve you mean.

3. Minutes: y, cuarto, media and menos

For the first half of the hour, add the minutes with y. At fifteen minutes, Spanish commonly says y cuarto; at thirty minutes, y media.

• Son las siete y cinco. — It's 7:05.
• Es la una y veinte. — It's 1:20.
• Son las diez y cuarto. — It's 10:15 (quarter past ten).
• Son las cuatro y media. — It's 4:30 (half past four).

After the half-hour, a particularly natural way of telling time in Spain is to look ahead to the next hour and subtract the minutes still to go with menos. For example, 6:50 is ten minutes before seven, so it is son las siete menos diez. This is a common convention rather than a ban on reading digital minutes directly.

Notice the singular at the change of hour: at 12:55 you are counting down to one, so it is es la una menos cinco, even though the digital clock still displays twelve.

Another option is to read the display more directly, especially for precise appointments: Son las seis y cuarenta y cinco (6:45). In Spain, son las siete menos cuarto often sounds more conversational. Some varieties of Latin American Spanish also use forms such as un cuarto para las siete; the preferred phrasing varies by region and speaker.

4. De la mañana, de la tarde, de la noche

A clock time by itself does not always tell you whether it is morning or evening. In ordinary conversation, Spanish often adds a part of the day rather than saying “a.m.” or “p.m.”

• de la mañana — in the morning: Son las ocho de la mañana. — It's 8 a.m.
• de la tarde — in the afternoon or early evening: Son las cinco de la tarde. — It's 5 p.m.
• de la noche — at night: Son las diez de la noche. — It's 10 p.m.
• de la madrugada — in the hours after midnight, before morning: Son las tres de la madrugada. — It's 3 a.m.

These labels do not have universal, fixed cut-off times; ordinary usage depends on daylight, the situation and local habits.

An exact hour versus a general period

Use de la with a specific clock time, but often por la with a broad time period:

• La tienda abre a las nueve de la mañana. — The shop opens at nine in the morning.
• Trabajo por la mañana. — I work in the morning.
• Cenamos a las nueve de la noche. — We have dinner at nine in the evening.
• Por la noche suelo leer. — I usually read at night.

5. What time is an event? Use a la / a las

¿Qué hora es? asks for the time right now. ¿A qué hora...? asks when an activity or event takes place. In the answer, a introduces the time:

• ¿A qué hora empieza la película? — What time does the film start?
• Empieza a las siete y media. — It starts at 7:30.
• La visita es a la una. — The visit is at one o'clock.
• ¿A qué hora quedamos? — What time shall we meet?
• Quedamos a las seis menos cuarto. — Let's meet at 5:45.

Compare these two ideas:

• Son las ocho. — It is eight o'clock. (The time now.)
• El autobús sale a las ocho. — The bus leaves at eight o'clock. (The time of an event.)

For ranges, use de... a... or desde... hasta...:

• La biblioteca abre de nueve a dos. — The library opens from nine until two.
• La recepción está abierta desde las ocho hasta las seis. — Reception is open from eight until six.

6. Timetables, the 24-hour clock and everyday life

In Spain, train timetables, booking confirmations and official schedules usually show the 24-hour clock. Everyday conversation often uses twelve-hour phrasing and context. You can understand both without treating them as completely different systems.

In a formal announcement you might also hear numbers read directly: El tren sale a las dieciocho treinta (18:30). In a casual conversation, sale a las seis y media is more likely when the context is clear.

A short day in Spanish

Los lunes me levanto a las siete y cuarto. Desayuno a las ocho y voy al trabajo. A mediodía como con mis compañeros. Por la tarde vuelvo a casa. Normalmente ceno a las nueve y media.

On Mondays I get up at 7:15. I have breakfast at eight and go to work. At noon I eat with my colleagues. In the afternoon I go home. I usually have dinner at 9:30.

The story uses three complementary tools: a las for precise moments, a mediodía for noon, and por la tarde for a general part of the day.

7. Common mistakes and how to fix them

• Not: Son la una. Say: Es la una. The one-o'clock pattern is singular.
• Not: Es las cinco. Say: Son las cinco. Other hours use the plural.
• Not: El concierto empieza son las nueve. Say: El concierto empieza a las nueve. Events take a.
• Not: Son las seis menos cuarto for 6:45. Say: Son las siete menos cuarto. With menos, count back from the next hour.
• Not: Trabajo de la mañana when you mean “in the morning” generally. Say: Trabajo por la mañana.

8. Quick speaking practice

Say these aloud before checking the suggested answers:

1. Ask a friend what time it is.
2. Tell someone it is 1:15.
3. Say it is 5:45 using menos.
4. Ask what time the museum opens.
5. Say that you study in the evenings, without mentioning a particular hour.

Suggested answers: ¿Tienes hora? · Es la una y cuarto. · Son las seis menos cuarto. · ¿A qué hora abre el museo? · Estudio por la tarde. (or por la noche, if you mean later at night).

Remember

To tell the time, start with es la una / son las.... To say when something happens, use a la una / a las.... For a time up to half past, you can add minutes with y; after half past, Spain Spanish often counts down to the next hour with menos. A clear time expression can be short, natural and precise.

For the verb behind es and son, see SER in Spanish: Present Tense and Essential Uses.